


Grace of Sundays

by CorpseBrigadier



Series: Drinking For Days Gone By [5]
Category: Final Fantasy Tactics
Genre: Adultery, Discussion of Abortion, F/M, Language of Flowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-25 18:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20728943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorpseBrigadier/pseuds/CorpseBrigadier
Summary: "Like as not, Duke Larg found some other sire to ensure his sister's place as mother to the king..."





	Grace of Sundays

**Author's Note:**

> **Note on Names:** I freely mix PSX and PSP names without remorse.

It was not yet dawn when Ruvelia awoke to the sound of birdsong, and realizing that some agent of her brother's would no doubt be along to collect her shortly, she got out of bed and began to look about for the thick wool cloak they'd had her wear over her shift. Finding it, she wrapped it in her arms and stopped a long moment to gaze out the thin slitted window, taking in for a moment the scent of distant apple blossoms and new turned earth as she thought to herself again and again what it was to be back in Gallione.

"Come back to bed, Rue," Dycedarg said, creeping up behind her to bury his face in her neck. "It won't do to have anyone see your fair face shining from my window." 

She took a deep breath as he trailed kisses across her throat, playfully tangling a hand in his hair with a bit more force than tenderness.

"I didn't recall you being in any position to give me orders."

"I think the present position we're both in calls for some reconsideration of protocol," he said playfully. "Besides, if you wanted somebody deferential, you ought have bedded another Beoulve."

She allowed herself to be maneuvered away from the offending window, and eventually back to the bed. As the sky began to purple, she wondered what had changed outside of the walls of Igros, thinking on days when the former duke had let his daughter ride in the midst of his hunters, old knights laughing at the novelty of some sylph of a girl carving the pads and bush from a fallen fox.

"Bestrald didn't precisely give me leave to pick my suitors," she replied quietly.

"I'd think a queen might have a little more latitude in selecting her own but..." He tousled her hair. "I'm not objecting to the arrangement."

"It is a purely transactional one, you do understand?"

He gestured melodramatically as though he'd been struck through the heart, falling backwards in a mock swoon. "Gads! You wilt me, Rue!"

"I also didn't recall giving you leave to call me that." She smiled as she sighed. "Besides a man versant in poisoncraft..."

Dycedarg sat up, suddenly looking very grave. "Careful now," he said sternly.

"Rue is an herb for disdain, is it not?"

"It's an herb for many things. Things you ought not be thinking on." 

As he spoke, he laid a hand gently on the small of her belly, looking at her intently as he let a great number of things go unspoken. She placed her own hand over it, gripping him tightly until her knuckles whitened and her nails left small crescents in skin. Both of them were still for a moment, barely breathing as they heard the echo of footsteps approach and fade in the long hall.

"I was not thinking of that," she whispered sharply. "I was thinking of what it does to those who pluck it incautiously."

"Refresh my memory."

"They end up burnt by its touch."

**Author's Note:**

> See my [profile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorpseBrigadier/profile) for notes on remixes, podfic, derivative works, and constructive criticism.
> 
> Written for the FFA prompt ["100 Words of Symbolic Plants."](https://fail-fandomanon.dreamwidth.org/376328.html?thread=2204780808#cmt2204780808)
> 
> * * *
> 
> **Fun Facts:** The title "Grace of Sundays" comes from Ophelia's description of rue in _Hamlet_. Rue is, in fact, an abortifacient symbolically indicative of disdain, and I can confirm from experience that it will burn the ever living crap out of you.
> 
> Also, I want to note that I lifted both this general pairing and the association between Ruvelia and hunting from moemachina's excellent work ["Horns"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/328020) (even if my Ruvelia is notably more fond of the pastime).


End file.
